LEXRA - why I’m a founding member
LEXRA - Where Location-Based Entertainment Meets XR
The Virtual Reality world is evolving quickly and the location-based entertainment industry is increasingly incorporating virtual reality (VR) / augmented reality (AR) / mixed reality (MR). It feels complex and overwhelming frankly. Our tiny little venue, with just one Virtual Reality arena open three days a week is still delivering cutting edge free roam experiences, and the tech and creativity in the field moves forever forward.
LEXRA - the Location-Based Entertainment Extended Reality Association - is a not for profit community that shares knowledge, experiences, and insights, so we can collectively accelerate the adoption of Extended Reality (XR). It connects like-minded professionals and forward-thinking companies. We share experiences, challenges, and ideas.
Although VR Escape has been here three years (founded Sept 2022) it's still early days for XR. There’s opportunity, but also challenges: no established business models; rapidly changing technology; and a consumer base that's still learning to trust. That's why I consider it so important to be part of the conversation, from my little old barn in little old Hockley, staying in the forefront and growing and adapting as the industry evolves matters to me.
This year (2025) I’ve attended two excellent conferences. Game On in Canterbury focused specifically on escape rooms, at which I was the only VR Escape room representative! More recently I was at the Escape Room Industry Conference (ERIC) at the Immersive Experience Network Summit. Again VR was very poorly represented numbers wise (although there were a couple of us) but the founder of LEXRA, Bob Cooney, made the journey to Woolwich and spoke passionately on the subject. It’s not unfair to say that the Immersive industry, as represented at the conference, is somewhat apathetic when it comes to VR. Never the less, momentum is gathering. Once people experience shared free roam games everything changes. It is that first step that remains the struggle.
(As a quick aside - I was so taken with a traditional escape game I played at GameOn that I bought it. Check it out here: TIME CRIMES )
If you’re reading this blog the odds are you’ve played at our venue, or another VR venue, or have at least experienced VR. The experience today is so different to the experience ten years ago. As the mainstream adopt VR - Disney, Marvel, Sony, Universal etc - putting on a headset becomes more common - which means venues like mine will become more common. That in turn will mean more software is created, more headset tech aimed specifically at venues will arrive, and new ideas will become viable. For example…
Virtual Field Trips: As it gets more and more expensive to take students on field trips it’s becoming more and more straightforward to bring the field trip to the students. The tech for this exists already and there are companies already doing it, but as the movement grows, so will the content, and it will become a classroom staple. (We’re looking to introduce this in some guise in 2026.)
In 2026 I’ll be transitioning away from the Meta headset architecture to location based entertainment specific equipment.
Anyway, I digress. While I’ve a lot of experience in using VR I’m far from an expert in the field when compared to many LEXRA founders, but LEXRA gives me access to the movers and shakers in the XR industry and it’s exciting to see where developments are taking us.
Craig and the VR entertainment international guru Bob Cooney
I wanted to share some exciting VR attractions currently available, both national and international, to show what the current VR climate is looking at right now and the many different ways it’s being utilised. From entertainment to education, VR is increasing in prevalence across all industries.
Have you tried any of these? Let me know your thoughts!
Craig
Zero Latency VR is arguably the biggest free-roam VR experience in the world, available in 28 different countries across the globe as of writing this in January 2026. Zero Latency offers various free roam VR experiences, such as shooting zombies, surviving hauntings, all the adrenaline packed tropes.
Following on from the ‘thrilling free-roam shooters’, Sandbox VR is a free roam experience that uses players’ entire bodies to immerse within the experience. With the use of Hollywood motion cameras, body trackers, and haptic suits, players’ entire bodies are used in any of the 10 current experiences they offer.
The Louvre is arguably the most famous museum in the world. Housing legendary pieces like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and The Raft of Medusa, it’s an extraordinary place that everyone should see. However, it is in France, which may be quite a distance for some people to go.
This is why the Louvre offers various VR tours of their exhibits. With an audio guide, you are taken through the Petite Galerie, updated for every year since 2020. So not only do these VR tours serve as a guide, they serve as a memory capsule for how the Louvre looked in previous years. The VR experiences were originally created during the 2020 pandemic as a way for people to still appreciate the Louvre, and have been going ever since.
They also offer a ‘Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass’ experience for their most famous artwork, I’ll let you figure out which one it’s about….
All in all, the Louvre has curated several experiences to allow people to appreciate the museum from their own homes, helping keep works of art alive through VR.
Space Descent recounts astronaut Tim Peake’s 400km journey back to Earth from the International Space Station. Narrated by Tim Peake, you will see a 360 degree look at what it is like to return to Earth while feeling like you’re descending yourself. You will be sat in a ride that will feel similar to the Soyuz capsule as you begin your descent. It’s so immersive Tim himself even said so!
The Hurricane 360 is a rentable VR roller coaster that sits up to 4 people at a time. Available in full VR by wearing a headset, or instead with curved or flat screen TVs, riders can be taken through a selection of VR rides, from Christmas themed to seeing the Great Wall of China. The ride is available for hire for events and parties, it doesn’t have a set location where people can go to it.
Omni Arena is a multiplayer VR experience where players are strapped into their individual pods and play against one another. Since players are strapped in, they can run and move around without going anywhere. Up to 4 people can fit inside an Omni Arena, which is just a 375 square ft space.
There are individual Omni Arenas (called Omni Ones) for just one player if it was something someone was interested in having in their home. The arena is designed for larger events and corporate gatherings. The Omni Arena also has a live leaderboard going on at all times for everyone who plays in the arenas to compete in.
Ninja Dojo Experience in Tokyo
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a ninja? Have you ever wanted to go to Tokyo? Put those two things together and you have Tokyo’s VR Ninja Dojo.
You will be welcomed into the space, and given ninja costumes to wear. Real world training will begin first, with ‘training training’ in swordsmanship, shuriken, ninjutsu, and taijutsu.
After the ‘training training’ you will be guided into the VR world to continue training. Using the skills learned in the real world, fight ninja battles and overcome enemies to complete your test. An excellent blend of the real world and VR to create a well-rounded experience.
VR cinemas have come a long way since the inception of VR, and Vertigo VR in Milton Keynes shows that. With over 20 short movies to choose from, the 5D cinema uses moving platforms, and real effects including water, wind and smoke to increase the immersion (as well as Active 3D glasses). Up to 4 people can watch a movie at a time.
Vertigo VR also offers the VR Sphere, which is essentially a more experience based version of the 5D cinema. It includes experiences such as trampolining, freefalling, and motorcycling. The spheres can simulate 90% of a freefall. The pods can either be private or a group of 4, like the cinemas.
VR has been massive to the tourism industry and Immersion VR demonstrates that. Like I said when talking about the Louvre, sometimes you want to experience something but it’s too far away. In a similar vein, maybe you want to go somewhere on holiday by don’t quite know where yet. Having VR tourism videos showcases the area in an as immersive way as possible and helps people decide where to go with a better feel for the place. It may not seem as impressive use of VR as other entries on this list, but VR has greatly helped the tourism industry and shows how VR has broken out of being used for just gaming purposes.
Titanic: A voyage Through Time takes its passengers through the final voyage of the titanic until the final moments. Walk the decks, explore the rooms, and experience a piece of legendary history like never before in this VR experience. Available in 17 locations across the globe as of writing this, this is a VR experience that is both immersive and educational.
